Assessment of the Current Intensity for Preventing Ice Accretion on Overhead Conductors

This paper concerns the determination of the electric current requirements for an anti-icing technique based on the Joule effect. The minimum current intensity needed for preventing ice accretion depends on several conductor parameters, including external diameter, electrical resistance, as well as surface geometry (number and diameter of external strands). It depends also on meteorological conditions, such as air temperature, wind velocity, and liquid water content. The study comprises the elaboration of a mathematical model and the laboratory experiments for validation. This research work is mainly concerned with power-line conductor and atmospheric parameters. Therefore, four different types of single A1/S1 power-line conductors are investigated. The analytical model was validated with the experiments performed in the wind tunnel of CIGELE Icing Research Pavilion at the University of Quebec, Chicoutimi. In order to complete the mathematical model, it is necessary to assess the overall heat transfer coefficient (HTC) for stranded conductors. The HTC measurements are presented for conductors with different surface geometries.